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Ecology and bio-diversity of the scenic treasure trove 'Nijhum Island National Park' are at a stake for the rampant deforestation, illegal grabbing of forestland, hunting deer and migratory birds and catching fish fry in the coastal region.
   Wide forestation is necessary to protect and steady the soil of the newly emerged island on the Bay of Bengal only hundred years ago.
   Forestation by the forest department began in 1972 and the whole 63 square kilometre area of the island has become a huge deep green forest now.
   According to Noakhali district forestry department, at least 2,000 core 43 lakh plants of 21 species of trees and 43 species of shrubs were sown in the forest of 15 thousand acres in 20 years.
   Most of the plant species were selected from mangroves like Kewra, Gewa, Bine and so on to cope with the saline water of the tide and nature of the soil.
   Besides the vegetations, there are spotted deer, monkey, wild buffaloes and at least 35 species of birds including small cranes, king storks, swallows, local nightingales, moynahs, hawks and falcons.
   Many migratory birds from the winter countries reverberate the forest with their chirping and twittering during winter.
   The four couples of spotted deer set free in the forest by the department of forestry in 1978 has now crossed 20 thousand in their number in 26 years.
   The government has declared 40 thousand 390 acres of 11 islands including the Nijhum as National Park in April 8, 2001.
   The declared park consists of 9,550 acres of Char Osman, corner of Char Osman and Char Kamala in the Nijhum and areas of other eight Chars.
   The administrative unit of the Nijhum is in the Jahajmara union of Hatiya upazila and the Char Osman Bit office of Jahajmara Range of Noakhali coastal forestation department under the directorate of forestry takes care of its forest with the help of a four-member investigation team of the forestry department and police.
   As no effective measures have been taken yet after four years since its declaration as one of the national forests, rampant deforestation, illegal grabbing of forestland for dwelling places, hunting deer and migratory birds, and catching fish fry in its coast has been threatening the biodiversity and its ecology as well.
   Widespread deforestation is going on as a quarter of dishonest persons are grabbing lands of Bandar Tila, Char Osman, Char Kamala, Char Halim and Char Rashid.
   Erosion-affected people from the northern part of Hatiya are also crowding the Nijhum Island threatening its forest resources. Forest-guard Mozammel Haque said they could not take care of the forest properly for the lack of human resources.
   Too much treading of people in the 'No trespassing areas' of the forest made the dwelling of deer and other agile animals out of place, he added.
   During the dry season when salinity of water increases deer, often in groups, come into the locality swimming rivers and canals to quench their thirst with sweet water. Many of the deer die of drowning or are caught by the people, or even bitten by dogs.
   According to a viscera report of 10 deer by Hatiya upazila livestock officer Dr Ahsan Habib Shamim in November 2001, most of the deer die of respiratory or cardiac arrest being seized with panic.
   Poachers are also a serious threat to the biodiversity as they not only hunt deer for meat but also shoot the migratory birds.
   Rampant catching of fish fry at the estuary of the Meghna during the breeding season is threatening many sweet-water fishes with extinction.
   Those who collect shrimps and prawns leave fiy of other fishes negligently which is also an act subversive to its biodiversity.
   A departmental officer of Noakhali Asit Ranjan Pal said a project proposal worth Tk 5 crore was under the government's consideration for Nijhum Island National Park.
   It was proposed that the project would be financed from the Annual Development Budget (ADB) and is awaiting approval by the pre-ECNEC, he added.
   This project proposal include sweet-water pond for deer, construction of floating jetties, mini motels, houses, observation towers, foot rail, benches and, forestation with 50 suitable species of plants, buying two passenger trawlers and rowing boats for the tourists and so on.
   The forestry department said at least four crore taka could be earned a year from selling of deer which increase geometrically.
   The environmentalists held that the park could be developed as one of the best tourist spots in the country if the biodiversity and the animal sanctuary of the park would be kept safe.

Before recouping the huge losses due to last year's flood, people of three upazilas of Moulvibazar have to incur fresh losses from another flood in the last week of May.
   Homesteads, roads and culverts, standing aman and aus paddy and summer vegetables have been massively damaged in the flood.
   Besides, fishes from ponds were washed away and domestic animals were killed by the floodwater.
   Loss of this year's flash flood has been estimated at Tk 30 crore in different sectors, of which loss only in the agriculture sector has been estimated at Tk 9 crore.
   Due to lack of proper initiatives from the government, backbone of the flood-hit farmers has broken as they have been facing repeated flood almost every year.
   People of the six upazilas became paupers facing flood repeatedly. Normal plying of vehicles on different roads of Kulaura, Kamalganj, Rajnagar and Sadar upazilas are being hampered as these roads are broken.
   After the inundation, people of different rural areas have set up bamboo structures where culverts were damaged.
   One thousand feet stretch of the Manu River embankment at Beltala of Alinagar village under Kulaura upazila was damaged by the flood.
   About 400 houses of 8 unions under Kulaura upazila were damaged completely or partly. Standing crops on 20 thousand acres of land in these areas were also damaged.
   People of the Alinagar area held a press conference at a restaurant of Moulvibazar town recently describing their sorrows from the damage of Beltala embankment.

Shortage of teachers has been affecting education of the students in most of the government and non-government primary schools in Chapainawabganj for a long time.
   According to the district primary education office sources, there are 896 primary schools under five upazilas of the district. Of them, 370 are government primary schools.
   The number of approved posts in the 370 government primary schools stands at 1,755.
   Ninety eight posts of teacher and 26 posts of headmaster are now vacant in the government primary schools.
   The number of vacant posts of teacher in the government primary schools is 43 under sadar, 35 under Shibganj, 20 under Gomastapur, 5 under Nachole and 4 under Bholahat upazila.
   Local sources said the shortage of teacher has been persisting in those government primary schools which are located in the char areas of the district.
   The teachers are reluctant to serve in the primary schools which are located in the low-lying areas.
   The standard of education in the primary schools at the inaccessible areas is stated to
   be very low.
   An education welfare fund has been created at the initiative of Harunur Rashid, a lawmaker of sadar upazila, to overcome the crisis of primary school teachers in the char areas.
   Eleven unemployed youths of low-lying areas have been appointed as teachers on a temporary basis with an honorarium of Tk 1,000 per month.

Villagers are rushing to a kabiraj (spiritual healer) at Baspur village under Sailakupa upazila in Jhenaidah for his potion to cure their various diseases and solve their family and other problems.
   The kabiraj named Baharul Islam conducts prayers at a local mosque.
   A good number of people especially women are coming to him everyday for his potion.
   Recently some people of the area have been feeling burning sensation and pain at different parts of their body and they considered it as a sign of threat to their health and life.
   When they approached the kabiraj, he termed it a ‘gajab’ (curse) of Allah and advised them to wear amulet and distribute Tk 5.25 as sadka (donation).
   Paying due weight to the advice of the kabiraj, many of the jittery villagers have started wearing amulet and offering sadka.
   When contacted, Dr Golam Hossain, civil surgeon of Jhenaidah, told New Age that pain and feeling of sensation in some parts of body, nausea, cough, cold and rash might be caused by the hot spell now sweeping the country.
   Last year, Nur Ahad, a member of the Ansars, took the people of this region by storm.
   Hundreds and thousands of men and women from far and near made a beeline to his house day and night to seek his potion for overcoming their health, social and financial problems.
   But gradually people stopped visiting Nur when they realised that his potion did not really contain any magic power.

The farmers of Nilphamari are showing keenness in the cultivation of kaun (millet) again. This season they cultivated millet on at least five hundred acres of land in Domar and Kishorganj upazilas of the district.
   However, despite bumper millet production farmers are not happy with the unexpected low price of the crop.
   Once Nilphamari was famous for millet cultivation. But now the people prefer hybrid crops; as a result millet farming has become almost unusual.
   Experts said the silted loam is ideal for millet cultivation. Usually millet was cultivated in the almost fallow lands which were unfit for cultivating other crops, they added.
   There is resemblance in the cultivation and use of paddy and millet. Both the plants are quite similar in look and shape, though millet has a long corn-stick.
   The seed of millet is smaller in size than that of paddy. However, both the corns could be boiled and eaten like rice. It can be used in preparing Khir or Payes. The Jau Bhat (porridge) of millet is popular among the low-income people.
   Though the people have not enough interest in millet as before, they still want to include millet in the food menu.
   The department of agricultural extension in the district does not maintain specific statistics on the cultivation of millet, because they identify it as a minor crop.

A physician of Rangamati General Medical Hospital was killed and another sustained injury in a road accident that took place at Sapchhari on Rangamati-Chittagong highway on Monday.
   Sources in police and hospital said, the dead was identified as Dr Tapan Tanchangya, 34, medical officer of RGMH, while the wounded was Ronel Chakma, 31.
   Ronel was referred to Chittagong Medical Hospital with critical condition immediately after rush to RGMH for treatment sources in RMGH said.
   The tragic mishap took place when a speedy truck collided with the motor bike, the doctor was riding with one of his associate.
   The police seized the truck and a case was lodged with Rangamati police in this connection.
   The deputy minister of the ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, Moni Swapon Dewan, and the chairman of the Rangamati Hill District Council, Manik Lal Dewan, and the Rangamati district unit of Doctors Association of Bangladesh condoled the untimely and sudden demise of Dr Swapon and expressed deep sympathy to the members of the bereaved family in separate messages.

Cattle diseases that broke out in an alarming proportion in the district claimed lives of over 1,500 domestic animals and affected 7,000 others in last two months.
   The situation has turned acute as the district and upazila veterinary hospitals cannot provide treatment to the affected heads of cattle due to scarcity of vaccines and medicines.
   The panic-stricken farmers time and again urged the deputy commissioner of the district and UNOs to ensure supply of vaccines and medicines for the treatment of sick cattle heads. But no steps have yet been taken in this regard.
   They also alleged that treatment activities are being hampered, as a number of posts are lying vacant in different veterinary hospitals of the district.
   While contacted, district livestock officer Dr M Golbar Hossain Khan said that despite crisis of vaccines and shortage of manpower they are trying their best to overcome the situation.
   He admitted that important posts are lying vacant in veterinary hospitals of worst affected Morelganj, Rampal, Mongla and Sadar upazilas.

The Aus paddy cultivation may face setback in Naogaon this season for want of sufficient rainwater.
   According to the Department of Agriculture Extension, a scheme has been taken up to bring 15,325 hectares under Aus farming under 11 upazilas of the district.
   Of the total, 8,000 hectares will be brought under high yielding variety while 7,325 hectares under the local variety.
   Farmers said though middle of May is the proper time for planting Aus paddy they failed to do so due to lack of rain in the district.
   Though the sowing season ends in the first week of Bengali month ‘Ashar’ the farmers so far could bring only 2,600 hectares under the cultivation.
   Added to this, the farmers said they could not prepare seedbeds for transplanting Aman paddy in the district due to lack of rainwater.